Is this workout book worth it?
 

http://www.musclestuff.com/trainnot.html

Should I get it or save my money?

If it will motivate you then sure, why not? I am sure you can find the same info on the net, but if having a book handy helps you then $19 isnt that much for a crash course in exercises and anatomy. Hell I spend $19 within the first 2 hours at a club and I get nothing to show for it except a nice buzz ;)

Just go to your local bookstore and look around, or even check out training books on Amazon with reader reviews.

It's probably an okay book, but the "Muscle and Fitness" logo means it's part of Joe Weider's publishing empire, and Weider's more about selling supplements and equipment at high prices than actually promulgating good information for the beginner.

Hmmm, well M&F magazine is excellent and full of great information so that throws your theory out the window ;)

When I stopped reading it, a fair number of the ads were nothing but hype for products they were pushing. They were also pushing the massive-muscle, ultra-ripped look as the ultimate, even though it's pretty darned artificial. And frankly you could never look like a lot of the guys they had featured unless you did your supplement shopping in Tijuana or had great natural genetics, or both. Went to a talk by Tom Platt once in which he was downbeat about the Weider operation. Later bolted the Weider org briefly for that alternate bodybuilding competition organization that didn't last long and whose name I forget.

I think that I finally threw the last M&F down in disgust after I was reading the letter column one day, and some guy wrote in to say that he didn't care for the ultra-ripped look, and that older-generation lifters like Dave Draper had the bulk and shape and a somewhat smoother look. The editorial reply was (in all caps) YOU MEAN LIKE FAT?! Geez, I see Dave Draper three times a week -- I belong to his gym -- and I'd be grateful if I was ever half as built as he is, even at his age. M&F is out in its own world, and that world is mostly about selling stuff, not just the magazine. I'm sure there's some good info there, but I don't trust them and I definitely don't send beginners there.

Well, I do agree it isn't a good mag for beginners. I think some of the advice would end up killin newbs, or at least scare them away from working out :). However, I happen to really like the magazine they pump out (aside from the occasional 3 page fat burning ads). It is one of the few mags that I keep on my endtable to go back and read old articles.

I used to read Muscle & Fiction. It is an ok magazine, not better or worse than any others. All of them make mucho dinero from promoting their supplements and exercise equipment. On the other hand, if their products are worthwhile, Then why shouldn't they promote them? I think their articles can be sound, but you have to read between the lines and read carefully. Use different sources, and learn to sniff out the bullshit. It is one thing to read an article on eating for mass, and another to read about some megajuicer eating a total of 4 lbs of beef over the course of a day.

I think anything that will push you, get you out there and out of a plateau or rut is money well spent.